FEMA Has Yet to Reopen No-Bid Contracts

[Eugene]

FEMA Has Yet to Reopen No-Bid Contracts


Friday November 11, 2005 7:31 PM

By HOPE YEN

Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) - Despite a month-old pledge, the Federal Emergency
Management Agency has yet to reopen four of its biggest no-bid
contracts for Hurricane Katrina work and won't do so until the
contracts are virtually complete. A promise to hire more
minority-owned firms also is largely unfulfilled.

The no-bid contracts for temporary housing, worth up to $100 million
each, were given to Shaw Group Inc., Bechtel Corp., CH2M Hill Inc.
and Fluor Corp. right after Katrina struck. Charges of favoritism
helped prompt last month's pledge by FEMA acting director R. David
Paulison, but now officials with the Homeland Security Department,
which oversees FEMA, say the contracts won't be awarded again until
February.

The disclosure dismayed some lawmakers and business groups that
believe the Bush administration has not done enough to ensure Katrina
contracts are spread around. In particular, they say small and
minority-owned businesses in the Gulf Coast have been shortchanged.

<snip>

More: http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-5409020,00.html

[Debi]

1. Or fire Brownie.n/t

[struggle4progress]

5. Ex-FEMA chief ends contract with agency

Published Thursday, November 10, 2005

WASHINGTON (AP) - Former Federal Emergency Management Agency chief Michael Brown is no longer on the agency’s payroll, the Department of Homeland Security said yesterday. He was compensated for nearly two months after he resigned under fire. <snip>

Last month, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said he extended Brown’s contract for an additional 30 days, until mid-November, to help the agency complete its review of the response to Katrina.

But Brown ended his contract early, Knocke said in response to an inquiry about House Democratic demands to remove Brown from the payroll.

In a letter to President George W. Bush yesterday, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer of Maryland said ... "It is difficult to imagine anyone less qualified to assess FEMA’s failed response to Katrina and make recommendations for improving the agency" ...

http://www.columbiatribune.com/2005/Nov/20051110News032.asp

[SoCalDem]

2. Who thought they WOULD? They are already "billing" LA

for "their share" of the clean-up. No additional money has been appropriated yet. This whole scheme was a way to get a HUGE chunk of money into Halliburton/KBR/Bechtel's hands in a big hurry while people were still watching bodies floating, and were distracted..

Donate! Give! Help!...that's what the tee-vee said non-stop. Yet the lion's share of money was being loaded onto to cyber barges and transferred into bank accounts.

The big push was to restore the "moneyed" parts of the city, and "just make the poor folks and their places go away"..

Mission accomplished :cry:

Katrina is so "last week".. It's over.. the levees will be discussed to death, and NOLA will be back to "faith-based hurrican protection" in no time..


The "promise" of aid will keep the democratic leaders quiet, lest they piss someone off and lose any help they might squeeze out later...and of course they need to run for re-election, so they have to be "careful"..

[JPZenger]

3. Didn't Hire La and Miss. businesses

I can understand if FEMA had used no bids for work needed in the first month. However, these no bid contracts went on for much longer. What is also bad is that very few Louisiana and Mississippi companies were hired. Much of the labor is apparently coming from Latin America.

One of the cardinal rules of reconstruction is that you want the cleanup and rebuilding dollars to cycle through local people and local businesses so that the spending has the maximum input on rebuilding the local economy.

[rodeodance]

4. opportunity knowed and the WH responded (sad but true).

[DeepModem Mom]

6. kick